He's a distinguished older British diplomat working at the G-8 Summit on issues of world poverty. She's a quiet, charming young ex-con he encounters in a cafe. Their love story, now available on DVD from HBO Films, goes beyond the usual boy-meets-girl genre to deliver a powerful message about the need for global economic justice.

Gina, the girl of the title, falls in love — not only with Lawrence, who is astounded that any woman so young and beautiful is interested in him, but also with his humanitarian mission. When she accompanies him to G-8 events, she is radically outspoken, embarrassing him and helping him see his work with new eyes. As Lawrence gets to know her, and hears her story of poverty and loss, his passion for his mission is renewed.

The climax of the file is Gina's delivery of what might be the best speech ever, by politician or lay person, making the case for going "the extra mile" to end world poverty. She delivers it at an official banquet, putting Lawrence's job at risk and getting herself tossed out by security. But in the end, her commitment to "speaking truth to power" wins the day.

If the love story doesn't thrill you, the story of a brave young woman speaking out for starving children and mothers worldwide certainly will.

—Teresa Blythe

Any pastor or educator in a mainline church would love to have a Shelby Knox in the congregation. Shelby, as depicted in Rose Rosenblatt and Marion Lipschutz's well-made documentary, is the epitome of the teenager capable of thinking for herself and defending her reasoned faith against assault by others, even adults in positions of authority.

The film follows Shelby's development from her sophomore year in high school through her graduation — years that prove to be far more eventful for her than for the typical teenager who goes along with the crowd.

Shelby is in a youth group at a Southern Baptist Church in Lubbock, Texas, where she joins her peers in a public ceremony of pledging chastity. But she knows that the rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in Lubbock are among the highest in America; and she knows that many of her friends who don't attend church are sexually active, and often pay a high price for their transgressions.

Believing that saying "No" is not enough, she joins a student group advocating sex education and the distribution of condoms — which her youth pastor opposes and her parents fret about. The teenager soon learns about the devious politics that roil the school board and the superintendent's office — the super refuses to meet with the sex-ed student group — and is dismayed when one of her peers tries to use the group for his own self-aggrandizement.

By the time she's a high school senior, Shelby has left the student group far behind, become convinced that a gay students' group merits her support, and come to an understanding with her conservative parents — that they will love each other, but disagree on some basic issues. She is lucky to have parents who, despite their dismay over her abandonment of their conservative principles (she even becomes a Democrat), love and respect her enough to give her the freedom to choose her own way.

The scenes showing Shelby and her youth pastor disagreeing over sex education and gay rights will be of special interest to pastors and church educators. This, in fact, would be a great film to show to a group of parents and youth to spark discussion, not just of the social issues addressed in the film, but of ways teens and parents can love and respect each other and get along despite their differences.

The Education of Shelby Knox was first seen at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. It was later aired on PBS's "Point of View" series, and is now available on DVD. For sales and rental information, call Incite Pictures at (212) 216-9315, or email Incite at info@incite-pictures.com.

—Edward McNulty